New ice rink opens in New London

Conner Jones, age 10, and his sister Mackenna, 7, enjoy their new ice skates while skating on New Londons new ice rink with their mother Casey Jones on Saturday, Jan. 23. John Faucher photo

January 29, 2016

Design fits future city garage site

By John Faucher

The city’s newly designed ice rink near the sledding hill officially opened on Jan. 20.

Dozens of families were able to try out the new rink over the warm winter weekend.

Casey Jones of New London brought her two children, Mackenna and Conner down to the rink to try out their new ice skates from grandma for Christmas.

“We like it. There was only one bumpy spot on the far end that we found,” said Jones.

The newly designed rink takes the shape of a loop or trail type rink as compared to the traditional square hockey style rink.

Last week the New London Fire Department added 24,000 gallons of water to the rink to smooth out the finish after damage occurred to the surface during the last warm spell.

New London Park and Recreation Director Chad Hoerth said if people see yellow caution tape they should stay off the rink.

“If folks go on the rink when it’s soft it takes much longer for us to add more layers to get it smooth again for skating,” said Hoerth.

The city posted a photo and announcement on its Facebook page last week announcing the opening.
“Ice skating trails or loops are becoming more popular,” said Hoerth. “I’m very excited to see what people think of it once they try it out.”

Hoerth said when the city was planning the new city garage it become evident that a full size hockey rink was not going to fit anywhere on that site anymore.

A year ago, he learned of a new figure eight ice rink created in the Town of Menasha. That gave him an idea to incorporate something similar into the new design of the future garage site in New London.

“It fit in pretty good,” said Hoerth.

The area also serves as a retention pond for that portion of the site.